North Yorkshire Martial Arts Team Secures Over 130 Medals at World Championships

A martial arts team, whose participants range in age from seven to 53, has received commendation from their coach after earning more than 130 medals at an international event. Members of Compass Martial Arts, based in North Yorkshire, returned home with a total of 134 medals—comprising 48 gold, 51 silver, and 35 bronze—from the recent International Combat Organisation (ICO) World Combat Championships held in Frankfurt, Germany. Team coach David Lazenby, 53, who currently possesses seven black belts, stated that this success felt like a reward for his dedication to the school in Sherburn-in-Elmet, which he established almost a decade ago. Mr. Lazenby remarked: “It was my biggest competition to date and I think we did all right.” The ICO competition, an annual event for amateur athletes, features disciplines such as karate, kickboxing, and tai chi. Mr. Lazenby mentioned that since founding the martial arts school eight years ago, he has been particularly “inspired every single step of the way” by the children participating in classes. “Every single day I have a class and every day is like a school day, but it’s like the best day,” he said. “I teach 53 classes a week over six days and you don’t feel like you’re going to work. It’s just the best job.” Mr. Lazenby explained that his aim was to teach the children attending the school respect, discipline, humility, and kindness, and that he was “learning and growing” constantly. Mothers Emily, 36, and Emma, 42, whose children from the school were among those competing in Frankfurt, described the journey as an adventure. Emily shared: “It was pure camaraderie. It was a long way and it’s a long journey and the ferry was rough, but the kids just loved being together. They’re like a little family. There was no negativity at all. There were no squabbles. They are just a great bunch of kids.” She further added: “The confidence my son’s got from coming here, and all the friends, you wouldn’t believe. You don’t expect it from the little Saturday morning session he used to do. Now we’re going to Germany and all these competitions. It’s brilliant.” Iona, 10, achieved a gold medal despite breaking her finger only two weeks before the ICO competition during a practice session. She secured gold in the extreme musical weapon forms, while also placing fifth in the creative forms competition and tenth in the traditional forms. She stated that her injured digit did not deter her from competing, but she had to implement some changes, such as altering routines and entering different categories. The Compass Martial Arts team participated in the ICO championships as part of the England team, which ultimately topped the final leader board with 160 golds, 140 silvers, and 90 bronzes. Mr. Lazenby praised all members of the Compass team, across all age groups, who took part in the competition, concluding: “We did really, really good.”